A court in Mumbai has directed a Darjeeling-based filmmaker to deposit over ₹3 crore that he had borrowed from a person in Portugal for making a film, in court.

Shenpenn Khymsar, a film producer and director from Darjeeling, had made the bilingual (Hindi and Nepali) film, Broken Wings, which is a tragic love story set in the backdrop of the 1986 Gorkhaland agitation “inspired by true events”.

“He had taken a sum of CAD 5,00,000 (Canadian dollars) or around ₹3.31 crore from Frank Teleghani, a businessman in Portugal, in three installments as a loan for making the film. He had promised Teleghani that once the film is released, he would repay the money,” said Kshitij Pal, an advocate in Mumbai, who represented Telghani in the case.

According to him, Khymsar, who made the first full-fledged film, Broken Wings, from Darjeeling and runs the Monk and the Warrior Productions, had taken the money in 2019 and 2020.

The film had Vinay Pathak of Bheja Fry fame in the cast, along with pther actors such as Mrinal Singh, Sunakshi Grover and Neetu Pandey.

“However, the filmmaker didn't return the money to Frank Telghani, nor did he apprise the latter of the earnings made from the film,” Pal said, adding that Telghani eventually filed a case with the city civil and sessions court of Greater Bombay.

The court heard the case in August-end and ordered Khymsar to deposit in court ₹3.31 crore that he owes Telghani within a month. However, Pal said that a month had passed but his client did not get his money back.

In the order, a copy of which is with The Telegraph, A. V. Kasture, the judge, has said that Khymsar and his production house should also elaborate on the earnings made from the film.

On Saturday, when told about the court's order, Khymsar, currently in the United States, told The Telegraph over the phone that Broken Wings was never released.

"Everyone knows the movie was never released. We have not made even ₹1 lakh from the film,” Khymsar said.

The release of the movie, which was supposed to be held at an event in Gangtok in 2022, had to be cancelled just hours before the function following an injunction over copyright issues on one of its songs.

Khymsar also claimed the total investment in the film was around ₹5.2 crore.

“I also have lost a lot of money. It is not that I made a lot of money through the movie and embezzled funds," said Khymsar.

After making the film, Khymsar was drawn into another controversy as K.L. Tamta, a retired IPS officer posted in the hills during the Gorkhaland agitation, had accused the filmmaker of “mala fide denigration” of his personality and service.

In the film, Khymsar used the surname Tamta while referring to a police officer.

The former IPS officer had threatened a lawsuit if Khymsar didn't remove the referencefrom the film. Khymsar had claimed it was a “coincidence.”